For the second time, NBC has signed an analyst from another network's No. 1 team. After landing John Madden to do the color commentary on Sunday Night Football starting in 2006, the Peacock has inked Cris Collinsworth to work in the studio with Bob Costas, currently his HBO Inside the NFL partner. Collinsworth has worked for NBC in the past and could branch off into covering the Olympics as well.

C'mon Feel the Math! Our good friend William Krasker is back, using his statistical model to ask the question: Does overtime -- and the presence of a third possible outcome, a tie -- change the optimal strategy for certain situations? The answer: Yes, and it matters more later in the season because teams know how a tie will affect their playoff chances. As an example, Krasker shows how a St. Louis decision to punt in overtime of Week 17 was the wrong decision, even though it would usually be the right decision.

Pete Prisco takes a look at twelve players he thinks will play a big part in getting their respective teams to the playoffs this season. He puts New England DT Vince Wilfork first on the list, but I'm not certain that any one player (other than, ahem, Tom Brady) can't be replaced on this team (even Richard Seymour).

In his notes from 'Around the League,' Prisco also discusses the upcoming supplemental draft, the derision with which team scouts refer to the national scouting bureaus, and why the Falcons are giving Peerless Price one more chance to be the go-to guy.

Lots of websites do a "cap cut all-star team" when they need off-season content, but FOX has done something fun with theirs, comparing the cap cut all-stars to the World Champs position by position and then imagining what a game between the two teams would be like. Two problems: They don't really consider the injury situation with some of the cap cuts like Ty Law and Richie Anderson, and I think the cap cut all-stars would have to make some cap cuts to actually fit under the cap.

Grady Jackson, long a FO favorite, has hired agent Drew Rosenhaus and is now threatening to hold out of camp because he wants a new contract -- just like his teammate Javon Walker and that other famous Rosenhaus client, Terrell Owens. Now, we're known around here as big supporters of Jackson, even saying that he was deserving of MVP consideration in 2003.

Tim Brown will sign a ceremonial contract with the Raiders and end his Hall of Fame career today. A few thoughts:

Although receiving numbers have been hugely inflated in recent years, I think Brown definitely belongs in the Hall of Fame. His numbers fall short only of Jerry Rice's, and the quality of the quarterbacks who threw him passes doesn't come close to Jerry Rice's.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has this (depending on your perspective) amusing/touching/sick story of the funeral service for Steelers fan James Henry Smith, who was laid out lying in a recliner, a pack of cigarettes and a beer by his side, a Steelers blanket across his lap, and Steelers higlights playing on an HDTV nearby.

I've heard of sports-themed weddings, and even attended one at a Mets game a few years back, but never a sports-themed funeral service.

I always liked Lionel "Little Train" James when he played with the Chargers. I don't like him so much after reading this article. James just lost a lawsuit against the Chiefs over whether they owed him disability payments, as he worked for the Chiefs as an assistant coach before he was diagnosed with acute necrotizing pancreatitis. Here are some details, as reported by Dan Margolies:

In theory, hiring a former NFL official to serve as a replay specialist is a good idea. The only problem was that Joe Gibbs would often overrule him. (the Redskins lost five of their first six challenges in 2004) As it stands, only the Miami Dolphins will have a full-time replay official on the payroll next season. (free registration/bugmenot required)